Atonement

Based on the British romance novel by Ian McEwan, Atonement seduces us with the ravishing explosion of passion between leading young lovers Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. Their kindred love is so strong it cannot be broken, no matter what tries to come between them. The furrow of passion that is up on the screen is tasteful without being gratuitously graphic, instead showing adoration for this intangibility that seems so rare.

Atonement is set in England, focusing on the well-off, luxurious living of the Tallis family on their grand estate. Cecilia Tallis (Knightley) sparks a romance that bursts into a heated passion with local estate worker Robbie Turner (McAvoy). It’s like Romeo and Juliet except there’s a significant class difference. When Cecilia and Robbie are passionately intertwined, Cecilia’s 13-year-old sister, Briony (Saorise Ronan), who’s a fledging writer, sees something she doesn’t quite understand. Shortly after, this leads to accusing Robbie of a crime he didn’t commit, even though Cecilia backs her beau.

The structure and stylistic storytelling, I thought, was told in a marvelous way as it takes Briony’s aspiration of being a writer and uses it as a smartly executed motif for the entire movie, especially the ending. But my biggest gripe with Atonement, is the fact that a confused 13-year-old girl’s word could be accepted with such ease over her older sister’s. Briony creates such a disastrous mess of things for Cecilia and Robbie, that Robbie’s freedom from jail is transferred into the armed services in the middle of a World War. He must risk death instead of isolated confinement to make it back into the arms of his lover. Cecilia nobly whispers to Robbie, as he’s being taken away in cuffs, to come back to her.

After the initial presentation of their indisputable, flamed love that could never be put out with any amount of water, we follow them individually as they try to return to each other. The ending proves to be quite powerful and an unexpected turn that really floors you.

I just really wish they could have come up with some other way to distance the lovers instead of a wrongful accusation that is accepted without a second’s hesitation. Provide more evidence, if that’s the route you wish to take, or something more plausible! Because it really makes such a great love story falter in the early going and diminishes the fibers that try to hold this movie together. The upper class-lower class dichotomy isn’t a good enough reason. There needs to be more.

Atonement, despite its fumbling, is a film that is beautifully shot, giving a stretch of visuals that really expand the imagination from the soldier infested beaches of war to the beautiful, extravagant, grassy estates of the England countryside. It deserves recognition and by the end, will really make you think.

Written by: John Berkowitz

Reviewers Rating: 7
Reader's Rating: 9.00
Reader's Votes: 2

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